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Monday, November 03, 2014

Blogging and Advertising

It has been almost 7 years since I started this blog in January, 2008. I needed a a way to promote my designs and I wanted to get to know my customers better, and blogging seemed to be the way to go. So, I have been blogging since then (although sometimes infrequently) and I am happy to say that there are now 860 folks who follow the blog, and it gets an average of 750 visits a day (more when I release a new free pattern or have a contest.)
Although I have always thought of the blog as a way to show my new designs and share my thoughts on designing and crochet in general, I realize that the world of crochet is changing, and I must change with it if I am going to survive as a designer.
Pattern sales are down for most designers, myself included. The internet, which makes it so easy to set up a crochet business and sell patterns directly to my wonderful customers, also makes it easy for those who would try to profit from the hard work of others. There are several foreign sites which have all of my patterns posted illegally for distribution, and they make money by running advertisements. These sites blatantly ignore all copyright laws, and I have been unable to get my patterns removed. I am not the only victim of these thieves, almost all of the large publishing companies and independent designers have been affected as well.
This has hurt my sales to the point that I have considered giving up designing. I also thought about setting up my own site and posting all of my patterns for free to get advertising revenue. I thought if anyone was profiting from giving my patterns away, it should be me. But, I know I still have many wonderful, loyal fans who appreciate my efforts and support me as a designer. I feel that giving my patterns away now would not be fair to all of my good customers who have purchased my patterns in the past (and who continue to support me now.)

So, I have come up with an idea. I have added advertisements to this blog, which will hopefully bring me some income. I get paid when someone clicks on an advertisement, so the more visitorsI get, the better.
I know most people really only visit this blog to get free patterns and to enter my contests, so those are the things I will be focusing on in the future. I will probably be doing a blog makeover, and adding a index to make searching for the free patterns easier as I add more of them.
I will also be 'retiring' some of my paid patterns, and after a waiting period, I will be adding them to the blog (kind of like Disney pulling an old movie out of their vault, but when mine come back they will be free!)
One thing I will notdo is add so many ads and popups that it becomes distracting. I want you to always enjoy visiting the blog.
So, I would like to ask for your help. If you like one of my free patterns, would you please share the link to it with your friends? If you have any ideas for patterns (or types) of designs that you would like to see in the future, would you let me know? Since there are already thousands of free patterns for hats, cowls and scarves out there, I thought I would focus more on thread designs, but I would love to hear your suggestions. Do you have any questions on designing (or crocheting in general) that you would like to see a post on?
I know I have a loyal group of folks who regularly read and comment on my blog. I want you to know that I appreciate each one of you. I have a long list of designs that I am anxious to make and share with you, and I hope you will enjoy them all!

7 comments:

Girl these days it is so hard to t and makea living no matter what it is your doing. For me I come back to your blog whenever there is a posting regardless if it's for a free pattern or contest. I enjoy your blog. I'd love to hear about your workings and your life. I am looking for oval doilies they are far and between locating them. I saw the thanksgiving oval you just posted I may need to get that one for the holidays coming up. I enjoy your work and I always pay for what I want I do enjoy an occasional freebie. I did make the owl book markers you posted they turned out adorable. Thanks for ALL you do!

I come to your blog whenever I see your post on my page - just to see what may be new since the last time I looked :) . I love your patterns and have bought a few. You design some of the prettiest things ever...

I enjoy reading your blog every time you post. I love all your crochet designs and have purchased quite a few. I love all your thread doilies and your distinct style so I just look forward to seeing all of the new designs that you have lined up. Can't wait to see them! Please keep designing as you have a very special gift!

I know I'm late in reading this but I just found your blog in May. I love your patterns and bought a few off your Etsy site. If it's something I want I'm willing to pay for it. Freebies are icing on the cake. I am very leery of buying from the internet and downloading free designs from the internet. I cannot follow diagrams and many free crochet patterns are diagrams. One lady does beautiful curtain edgings but they are either diagrams or in Spanish. I would order written patterns in English through PayPal but she doesn't offer them. I love your patterns and as I said "it's worth paying for" but I know some people think everything should be free. I tried selling crafts once and people think you should give it away like it's a garage sale. They don't consider the money I spent in supplies or that my time is valuable.

BellaCrochet Free Patterns

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Contact me:

I would love to hear from you!You can write to me at:bellacrochet.info (at) yahoo.comPlease note that I do not email copies of my patterns, and that I feature both my paid and free patterns here on the blog (not every design you see pictured on the blog is free!)

Also, I cannot mail out printed copies of my free patterns. I do not have any other versions of my free patterns available; no PDF's, no translations into other languages, no symbol diagrams, no additional photos and no videos are available. All my free patterns have been tested for accuracy and clarity, and I can offer no additional information or help on any of them. You can find all of my paid patterns in my Etsy shop:https://www.etsy.com/shop/BellaCrochet

IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All pictures and text posted on this blog are protected by copyright by Elizabeth Ann White for BellaCrochet.

Please do not copy, share, sell or redistribute anything posted on this blog. I do not give anyone permission to make videos or tutorials of any of my patterns (paid or free) for YouTube, personal blogs or any other site. Thank you!

etsy

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About Me

I love crochet, and although crochet has been my career and means of support for most of my life, I would crochet every day even if I never made a dime off of it!

But, I have been a professional crochet designer for almost 30 years. I worked as a technical editor for Annie's Attic for two years, and was the in-house designer for Annie's Attic and the NeedleCraft Shop for several years. In 2008, I left DRG Publishing where I was the crochet pattern book coordinator. I am now self-publishing my original designs through my company, BellaCrochet. You can see all my designs in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/bellacrochetI love creating vintage- look thread designs- I am a doily and potholder girl! I am the proud mother of 3 daughters and 3 sons, and the grandmother of 16 sweet and wonderful grandchildren. I live on a farm in rural east Texas, with my darlin' man, David.